'
'You would not like to go back to your father, I suppose,' suggested
Madame.
Kitty made a gesture of dissent.
'No,' she answered, determinedly; 'I was tired of my father and his
religion; I'm on the stage now, and I mean to stick to it.'
'Kitty! Kitty!' said Madame, sadly, 'you little know the
temptations--'
'Oh! yes, I do,' interrupted Kitty, impatiently; 'I've been nearly
two years on the stage, and I have not seen any great wickedness--
besides, I'm always with Mrs Wopples.'
'Then you still mean to be an actress?' asked Madame.
'Yes,' replied Kitty, in a firm voice; 'if I went back to my father,
I'd go mad leading that dull life.'
'But why not stay with me, my dear?' said Mrs Villiers, looking at
her; 'I am a lonely woman, as you know, and if you come to me, I
will treat you as a daughter.'
'Ah! how good you are,' cried the girl in a revulsion of feeling,
falling on her friend's neck; 'but indeed I cannot leave the stage--
I'm too fond of it.'
Madame sighed, and gave up the argument for a time, then showed the
two girls all over the house, and after they had dinner with her,
she sent them back to town in her carriage, with strict injunctions
to Kitty to come down next day and bring Mr Wopples with her. When
the two girls reached the hotel where the family was staying, Fanny
gave her father a glowing account of the opulence of Madame Midas,
and Mr Wopples was greatly interested in the whole affair.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301